Amid the unprecedented deterioration of the local currency and the dollar’s ​​exchange rate surpassing 29,000 LBP, it has become normal to witness a surge in the prices of all commodities, mainly fuel prices, which increased today to reach about 350,000 LBP for gasoline, 360,000 LBP for diesel, and 320,000 LBP for a cooking gas bottle.

The upward trajectory of the prices of oil derivatives will continue in the coming days, as the price of a can of gasoline is expected to reach 400,000 LBP in the coming days.

To shed more light on this topic, a member of the Gas Station Owners Syndicate, George Brax, joined us.

The Director of Medical Care at the Ministry of Public Health Joseph Helou, announced that if the number of people infected with Covid-19 increased to the same level experienced last year, hospitals would be unable to cope. As a result of the financial situation, patients were heading to government hospitals.

The Head of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, Sleiman Haroun, pointed out that it will be impossible for the hospitals that closed their Corona departments to reopen again due to the shortage in the medical staff and the high prices of medical supplies compared to last year, as well as the cost of diesel that hospitals incur monthly which has become equivalent to the total wages.

Haroun noted that there is a large gap in the medical staff that will last for several years, and the shortage of medicines is more dangerous than the shortage of hospital beds.